Past Mistakes, Future Consequences
by Kenna Monster
Summary: Abby, Becker and Jenny think Lester is pushing Connor too hard, and when Connor gets sick but refuses to rest Lester finally agrees. Now the team just has to convince Connor to go to the med bay before he gets any worse.
1. Chapter 1

"Connor seems enthusiastic," Jenny said, watching out of Lester's office window as Connor hurried around the main room of the ARC, trying to fix the anomaly tracker.

"Yes, well he does have a lot of work on his plate at the moment," Lester replied, shuffling some papers around. "We need the tracker back up and running."

"Maybe you should give him a rest, Connor's been working harder than anyone else lately," Jenny said. She wondered how the young man was able to keep going with all the pressure he was under; Lester wasn't the type of man to accept no. Which meant Connor was the first to arrive at the ARC in the morning, and the last to leave.

"He's simply doing his job. If you have such a problem with it, maybe you could go help him," Lester suggested.

Jenny turned and looked at Lester incredulously. "Oh alright, I'll talk to him this afternoon," Lester conceded, knowing better than to argue with Jenny when it came to one of the members of her team. She was like their angry mother hen, never letting them out of her sight.

"Thank you," Jenny said before slamming the door behind her.

"Throw the switch when I tell you to," Connor directed a young assistant, handing her an extension cord with a flip switch on its end. He then hurried around to the front of the Anomaly tracker, pressing a few buttons. Jenny watched, ready to step in at the first sign of a break. But Connor was like a whirlwind, hardly stopping to take a breath. It was starting to concern her.

"Alright, go!" Connor said, and the girl flipped the switch. There was a brief pause and then the anomaly tracker was back online.

"Fixed it!" Connor yelled up at Lester, who was watching from his office. He nodded then turned back to his desk.

"One down," Connor said, checking the system to make sure it would hold.

"Connor, mind if I have a word?" Jenny asked, walking towards him.

"Can you walk and talk?" Connor asked, heading towards the door. "Becker has a new gun he wants to show me."

"Um, alright," Jenny said, hesitating before hurrying after Connor, who was already walking down the hallway to the weapons room. She jogged to catch up with him. "I just wanted to see how you're doing, you seem to have a lot on your plate at the moment."

"Yep, always busy," Connor teased, smiling at her.

"Well, have you been getting enough rest?" Jenny asked as they walked into the weapons room.

"I'll rest later, right now I have too much to do," Connor replied. He walked over to Becker and the two of them began discussing the new shipment of guns that had just come in. Connor picked one up and sighted it, examining the barrel.

"Nice! Feels a lot lighter than the older models," he said, absentmindedly fiddling with it.

"Yah, it's a serious weapon," Becker said, noticing Connor's shaking hands and taking the gun back.

"Thanks for showing me mate, I'll be able to practice with it later today," Connor said before leaving the room. Jenny watched him go, shaking her head.

"What's going on with him?" Becker asked.

"Lester has him running ragged, and I'm starting to get worried that he isn't getting enough rest," Jenny replied.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Becker said, closing the lid on the guns and walking with her out into the hall.

"Thanks," Jenny said before heading back to her office. She had enough paperwork to file that it was nice to know someone else was going to help take care of Connor.

* * *

"Connor, be careful!" Abby shouted, watching as Connor balanced on a chair, reaching towards the light fixture hanging from the ceiling where a small reptile had climbed up and apparently fallen asleep.

"Don't worry, I got him," Connor said, grabbing the little guy and quickly descending. Abby took the reptile from him and placed it back in its cage.

"Connor, please report to my office," Lester said over the intercom.

"Gotta go!" Connor said, hurrying from the nursery. Becker had just entered the hallway and watched him go, then entered the nursery.

"What's up with him?" he asked.

"I don't know," Abby replied. "He's been working a lot lately."

"Do you think he's getting enough sleep?" Becker asked. He could tell from Connor's behavior that he was consuming large amounts of caffeine, but he wasn't too worried yet.

"He's not home when I go to bed and already here when I wake up," Abby replied. "Should we talk to him?"

"Nah, let me handle me it," Becker said. He smiled at Abby then left.

* * *

"Come in," Jenny said. Becker pushed open the office door and stepped inside.

"Abby just told me that Connor is hardly ever home. Apparently he stays here really late every night and gets here early every morning," Becker said.

"Great," Jenny grumbled. "The last thing we need is him collapsing from exhaustion. I'll go talk to Lester, see if he'll give him a couple hours off tomorrow."

Suddenly alarms started blaring. "Is it the tracker?" Jenny asked, standing up.

"No, sounds like something else," Becker said, holding open the door and hurrying after her. They went into the main room, spotting the crowd that had gathered around the tracker.

"What's going on?" Lester demanded as he joined the group.

"I don't know, he just collapsed," Abby said, kneeling on the ground beside Connor, who was unconscious.

"Let's get him to med bay," Becker said, grabbing his radio. "I need doctor personnel in the main room immediately."


	2. Chapter 2

"Connor? Conner, we need you to open your eyes" Jenny said, watching as a medical personnel began checking his heart rate.

Connor stirred faintly, fighting against the strong wave that threatened to pull him back down into the darkness.

"Connor?" Abby asked, taking his hand in hers. She didn't like how cold it felt.

"M'kay," Connor slurred, blinking slowly up at her.

"How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?" the doctor asked.

"I've got a headache, but I'm alright," Connor replied, trying to sit up. Abby stopped him.

"You collapsed, I don't think you're alright," she argued.

"Your heart rate is a little fast, that could be a sign of exhaustion. When was the last time you slept?" the doctor asked.

"Last night," Connor replied.

"How many hours?" Jenny asked. Connor was silent until Abby nudged him.

"Answer the question," she ordered.

"I guess a few," Connor replied, looking at the doctor.

"How much is a few?" Becker asked.

"Um, three," Connor answered, avoiding looking at Abby.

"And the night before?" Jenny asked.

"Look, I've been really busy lately, I haven't had a chance to get much rest," Connor snapped. "If you haven't noticed, there's a lot to take care of now that Cutter's…"

The room was silent. Connor looked down at his hands, unable to look at anyone.

Suddenly a second alarm blared, and everyone sprang into action. Lester, Jenny and Becker hurried from the room.

"Connor…" Abby began, unsure of what to say.

"That's the alarm for an anomaly, we should go help," Connor said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and standing up. He turned his back on her and walked out of the room, not wanting her to see his face.

"Anomaly just opened downtown," Becker said, watching the scanner.

"Alright, get going," Lester said. Jenny saw Connor walk into the room and hurried over to him.

"You should stay here," she said.

"You're going to need me," Connor argued. "I feel fine."

Jenny hesitated, about to argue, but then Becker shouted for her to hurry up.

"Stay close to me," she ordered.

* * *

"Spread out, see if anything managed to come through," Becker ordered his men. They quickly began checking the perimeter, searching for any sign of a creature having come through the anomaly.

"You should go help Becker and Jenny," Connor said to Abby, who had refused to leave his side since they had arrived at the location.

"I'm fine here," Abby replied. Connor looked at her, then turned back to working on closing the portal.

"Looks all clear. Ready whenever you are," Becker said to Connor.

"This should do it," Connor said, pressing a button on his new machine. Suddenly the anomaly glowed brightly, then shrank, quickly closing in on itself.

"Well that was easy," Jenny said, looking around.

Connor all of a sudden felt like his heart was racing, his pulse pounding in his ears. Abby said something to him, but when he looked at her, everything tilted sideways and gravity meant nothing. He felt himself falling, but could do nothing to stop it.

* * *

"How is he?" someone whispered, and Connor heard the sound of a closing door. Everything felt fuzzy and confusing, but he was content to just lie there and not worry about it for the moment.

"The doctor says he'll be alright, just needs a lot of rest," a second voice replied, and he recognized it as Abby.

"That's good," the first person said, and Connor realized it was Jenny. "He scared us."

"Yah," Abby said softly. There was a weight on his bed and he felt it dip down as someone sat beside him. A gentle hand brushed the hair back from his forehead. "He's been different, ever since…"

"We all have," Jenny added. "Losing Cutter was a big shock. Connor looked up to him, of course it's going to take him a while to grieve. But hopefully this time he'll actually try to get some sleep."

Abby laughed, but Connor didn't like the sound. It wasn't her high playful laugh, it was unhappy and totally unlike her.

"I'll leave you, I just wanted to make sure he was okay," Jenny said, then there was the sound of a door closing. Connor kept his eyes closed, waiting to see what Abby would do.

"I miss him too," Abby whispered. "There's days when I come here and expect to see him working in his office, or arguing with Lester. Then I remember, and it hits me like a ton of bricks and I have to sit down."

"I know you think that his death was your fault, like you could've done something to stop Helen. But I just want you to know that I don't blame you. No matter how you feel about it, I know that Cutter died doing what he loved, and he wouldn't want to see you like this. So you have to get better. For him. Alright?"

Connor didn't answer, but as he felt Abby lie down next to him and heard her sob, he knew that she was right. No matter what happened, he couldn't let Cutter down. And even more than that, he couldn't let Abby down. He would die first.

He drifted back to sleep, holding Abby in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

"Will you please calm down?" Abby asked, watching as Connor struggled to pull on his shoes. He was resolutely refusing to stay in the med bay any longer and wanted to return to work, but Abby knew he wasn't ready. He was still weak and looked like he was dead on his feet.

"I feel fine, alright? I got plenty of sleep," Connor argued, still trying to tie his shoelace. He blinked, willing the dizziness to pass.

"Connor, please," Abby begged. "You really shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard, it's going to make you sicker."

"I can't sit still any longer!" Connor yelled, throwing his shoe against the wall in frustration.

Abby sat down on the bed next to him, taking his hand in hers. She looked at him, but he stared at the floor. "Connor Temple, look at me."

Connor lifted his eyes and looked at her, and she was shocked to see him on the verge of tears.

"You're sick. And if you force yourself to keep going you're only going to make it worse. Please, I can't lose you too," Abby said gently.

"I should've stopped her," Connor whispered, laying his head on Abby's shoulder. "I should've stopped her."

"Then you'd be gone too," Abby said. "What would my life be like without you?"

"Boring," Connor replied.

"Exactly. So do we have a deal? I'll take you home so you can get some rest," Abby suggested, waiting for Connor's response. Suddenly he sobbed, a deep cry that nearly broke Abby's heart.

"It's alright, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere," Abby said softly, taking Connor's hand in hers and rubbing soothing circles on the back of it. She waited for him to calm down, knowing that he would talk to her when he was ready.

"I'm tired," Connor finally said, his head still on her shoulder. Abby smiled.

"Let's go home."

**[A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews, I hope everyone enjoyed the story!]**


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